Cronky

Well that's the question. My speculation is that his main qualities are his stamina, his enthusiasm, pace and quick feet. I don't think he weights his passes very well, but he can pass the ball quickly and wrong foot the opposition that way. I think he'll be most useful in the final third of the field, but he needs to get better at coping with the pace and physicality of our league.

Apparently, in the early stages of his career, he drew comparisons with Pirlo, but he insisted that his role model was Gattuso. My impression is that neither make a good comparison, because he doesn't seem to be a great tackler or defensively minded, and or that great technically. There are mental and physical adjustments for him to make in this new environment, but assuming that those can be sorted in time, I've started to wonder who we're going to get. In my post, I was speculating that Dyer may be a good comparison.

With Phillips, I doubt if we'd match his wages, or the transfer fee, or even if City would sell or loan him to us. But he's a good player and would do a great job for us. I think we're the club he ought to have joined in the first place. City were always going to be a long shot for him, but I can understand a player being unable to resist the offer.

I'm kind of glad you said this. It feels like the elephant in the room, and I've not had the nerve to voice this myself up till now. His first touch doesn't look good at all, which isn't what you'd expect of an Italian player. That's not to say he doesn't have something to offer. He may be like Kieron Dyer - pacey, quick feet and good stamina. Dyer was a bit underrated on here, and of course he had massive injury problems. But in terms of our expectations of Sandro, we may need to adjust. We're not getting a Pirlo. As the guy himself said, more of a Gattuso, though he needs to adjust to the physicality of the Premiership for that to bear fruit. And of course Dyer was better going forward than defending.

I thought Tonali played a bit like Willock was playing in that period after he made the permanent move and before Eddie came along - a bit hesitant, like he wasn't sure he wanted to be here. Eddie turned the situation around and hopefully he can do the same with Tonali. Maybe there's a fitness issue as well. With Gordon, he seemed to be trying too hard and because he'd already proved himself in the Premiership, I wasn't particularly concerned. Hopefully we'll see Tonali at his best soon, but to be honest, at this stage I'm not sure what his best is going to look like, and whether it'll be enough for the Premiership. Fingers crossed.

'Weird' is the idea that Tonali's second half performance was 'wonderful'.

Yeah, I'd agree with that. We're down to the bare bones. Anderson did well, despite being played further forward than I think is best. Bruno was superb - best I've seen him play this season. Incidentally, I was stuck with the West Ham fans and I thought their support was lousy. The place was like a graveyard until they scored. Then they were giving it large until we went ahead, and then they just got angry.

I think he's confusing Tonali with Bruno.

Yeah, I agree. We have to give him more time, but at the moment there are concerns. I was at the game today, so I was able to have a good look at him. He didn't really make things happen, seemed nervous on the ball, didn't tackle well, often passed to a player who was in a worse position than him. I'm not sure if the problem is physical, mental, or a question of getting used to a new playing environment, but there is a problem.

I fear he won't. Matty always looked a bit short of pace, and it looks like that injury has robbed him of what little he had. I know the club were continuing to provide treatment for him, but perhaps that's over, I don't know. He came across as quite a strong character, so hopefully with the support of family and friends, he can move on from all the disappointment.

Perhaps it should be the other way round.

The sight of him smashing the ball into the net on Wednesday will be filed away as one of those treasured memories. It really lifted me off my chair, I think because it meant game over. I was very pleased for him as well, given the journey he's made over the last two years.

West Ham would want a lot of wonga for Bowen, and there's likely to be some competition. Personally, I think he's a bit over-rated at the moment, and we'd probably get better value from abroad.

Ha ha, over the years, you wouldn't believe the number of opportunities that I've let pass by.

What do you mean by a 'W'?

Judging from the posts, some are torn between loyalty to KK and their reaction to what is a pretty crass comment. Age isn't really an excuse. In his lifetime, there have been enormous changes in attitude towards women and gay people, which he would have been very aware of. He tried to backtrack from his comments but then somewhat dug himself in deeper. FWIW, I genuinely think he's talking rubbish. There are some very good female pundits around - eg Sue Smith, Karen Carney. The overall standard between the genders is very similar. Professional players can get irritated when an amateur starts to talk to them about football in a way that challenges or competes with them. You have to adopt a rather subservient tone. There is a tendency to pull rank, even within the professional game, where someone's opinion can get dismissed because they haven't won any caps or something like that. They're a competitive breed. I think that's what may have crept in here with KK.

Came across an interesting fact. Of the 352 players in their national squads for the 1966 World Cup, how many were playing for clubs outside their country? Scroll down for the answer. 8. A sign of the times. Of the 8, 7 were playing in Italy, 1 in Spain. All were from European countries. All the 110 South and Central American players were playing for clubs within their countries. Obviously I'm aware of the changes that have taken place, but those figures surprised me.

The continuing mystery for me is how we manage to concede so few goals. A back four of Trippier - Lascelles - Schar - Burn doesn't look at all strong on paper, and nobody in front of them is a great tackler. There seems to be some view that PSG were below par, but they cut through our press several times and exposed our defence. The likes of Mbappe and Dembele showed their class on several occasions and they did get chances. I'm not having it that we kept them quiet. It's not a fluke - it's a general pattern. There always seems to someone around to try and put in a block. It must be about discipline and composure. When we're under threat, the players don't panic and continue to make the best decisions that are available to them.

Another Yorkshireman with dodgy views - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY4tD2Hbg_A

He's the best thing that's ever happened to this club. The second best thing was Emery turning us down.

So he walked off when things didn't go his way! Who would have thought? Sorry guys, it was an open goal.

The ability has always been there. The problem was between his ears. He gave a very composed and confident performance - words I never thought I'd be using in relation to him.

Yeah, great post. A bit of fear crept in after the Liverpool game, but that's gone now.

PSG didn't seem prepared properly, and as we've seen before, if any team comes with the wrong approach, our guy will do them like a kipper. Strange to say, but after what's happened over the last two years, the result is not a surprise.